â€œWe're donating Tamiflu medicines to either Indonesia or Cambodia because
the medicines donated by Unilab two years ago are expiring in November 2007 and we want
to maximise the use of these medicines,â€ Health Undersecretary Ethelyn Nieto
told a press conference on Friday on Avian Influenza Pandemic Preparedness
sponsored by the department and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Nieto added that if the Philippines needed Tamiflu in the future, the
supply would be replenished.

â€œThank God, the Philippines is still free from avian
flu,â€ she said.

WHO representative Dr Jean Marc Olive presented a global update on the
avian influenza. As of October 2006, 55 people have died in Indonesia from
influenza A (H5N1), Olive said. In Vietnam there have been 42 deaths. Other
countries where H5N1 cases have been confirmed are Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China,
Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Thailand and Turkey.

Since the start of the outbreak, the Philippines has remained free from the
highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and does not have any reported case of
avian influenza due to H5N1 both in birds and in humans.